Space to make Kennington and Oval junctions child cycle friendly, part 2

On Friday 28th February, just after the water main had burst causing Clapham Road to be shut, I blogged with photos showing the traffic from Elephant and Castle in the morning.

A week on, with the closure still in place, Lambeth's Cycle Programme Manager took these photos, observing,

I took this sequence of photos this morning between 0835 and 0838. They show Brixton Road North bound looking towards the junction with  Camberwell New Road, 7 days into the closure of the A3 between Stockwell and Oval. Whilst busier than normal, the junction was not backed up and cleared completely or almost completely every time. When the A3 was first closed last week this junction was blocked and backed up, but we can see from evidence this morning that traffic is already evaporating just one week on.

 Putting in place cycle facilities to Dutch standards, that children can use safely, will require a little change at the junctions here, but nothing like the scale of the closure of Clapham Road. The forced closure of Clapham Road shows that there is no reason for TfL to compromise on making this area really cycling friendly for all.

The Challenge of Change in Vauxhall

Last night, at the invitation of a vocal Harleyford Road resident, I attended a meeting between a handful of residents and Transport for London about Cycling Superhighway 5 between New Cross Gate and Victoria via Vauxhall Bridge.

TfL proposes to turn one of the three lanes of one-way motor traffic on Harleyford Road, between the Vauxhall end of the cricket ground and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, into a two-way cycling track. A number of properties face onto the road and some residents have concerns about the proposed track.

The meeting was for Transport for London to present their current plans following a previous meeting about a year ago. Members of the Cycling Superhighway design and consultation team were there, and, lest there be any doubt that TfL are taking this seriously, Andrew Gilligan, the Mayor’s Cycling Commissioner, and Nigel Hardy, TfL’s Head of Capital Development came to meet the half-dozen residents.

For those who don’t know the area, Harleyford Road is a TfL controlled strategic ‘red-route’ that runs up from the Oval towards Vauxhall Bridge. As this map, from this great resource, of 1831 shows, it has been a major road carrying people and goods between south and north London since the first Vauxhall Bridge was built in 1812.

In Victorian times I imagine it was frequently congested; noisy due to the clatter of horse shoes and rumble of wagon wheels; liberally splattered in horse poo and pee. The coming of the motor vehicle, which could do in one trip what it previously too six horses and carts to do, may have seemed a huge relief to the residents at that time.

As time went by however motor vehicle numbers and trips soared resulting in the noisy, polluted, race track that is Vauxhall as we know it today.

At first glance one may doubt the sanity of anyone who chooses to live on such a motorway, but the traffic will presumably have altered to a degree over the years (e.g. I believe the red-route controls were implemented in 1998), and the large houses are centrally located, well connected to public transport, and cheaper than ones facing onto a quieter street. And there are off-peak times

The meeting was shouty and jumped around from topic to topic quite erratically, but I will try to capture the points that were discussed and some comments and suggestions I have. It’s pertinent to note that all the residents present seemed to live on the side of the road on which the cycle track is proposed to be placed (the right hand lane in the photo above, heading towards Vauxhall). One stated that she is a fair-weather cyclist.

Loading and Unloading – At present the red-route status means that, according to a resident, you cannot load/unload between 7am and 7pm Monday to Saturday. The concern is access to hearses, ambulances, refuse trucks, fire engines, supermarket delivery vehicles, cars used by the infirm and removal lorries during those hours if one of three motor traffic lanes has been replaced by a two-way cycle lane.

TfL pointed out that the existing loading bays that have been provided for most loading/unloading in Durham Street would remain. I pointed out even if vehicles stopped in one lane that would still leave a motor traffic lane available going in the same direction for motor vehicles to use. I also suggested that an off-peak loading bay on Harleyford Road would be worthy of consideration by TfL, which they took on board as a proposal.  I took this photo in the early afternoon today and you can see that there is no shortage of space despite a broken down car.

A further concern was the ability of people to cross a low barrier between the road and cycle lane that will prevent drivers from parking on the cycle lane. I suggested some wheelchair width gaps – insufficient to get a vehicle into – would permit this. TfL seemed happy to explore this.

An additional issue was that people loading/unloading on this road (rather than in the Durham Street bay provided) would have to cross a two-way cycle lane to reach the vehicle. Apparently cyclists travel at 30mph (and presumably are impervious to injury in a collision as well as being beyond Olympic racing status) so that would present great difficulties. A TfL observation that the peak hour tidal flow tended to be in one-direction appeared to be lost in the general hubbub.

The problems that would arise in the future from two-way cycling in the future were felt likely to be the same as the current ones, where people ride their cycles against the traffic on the pavement, the difference being that  they would be riding on a separate track instead of the pavement.

Pedestrian/Cyclist Interaction – Some people are rushing from A to C, through B where some locals are pootling around. Regardless of form of transport there can be conflict in this circumstance and excellent design plays a massive role in reducing this.

The underlying issue in Vauxhall is how to successfully balance the needs of a transport ‘corridor’ with a place where people live. We must not end up with barren streets as exemplified a little further down Harleyford Road by the sullen wall along the Oval cricket ground. TfL’s urban designers have done good work in producing the draft Nine Elms cycling strategy, but there was no indication in the plans presented last night of place-making being considered here.  For example, could trees be used at places to mark the divide between the road and the cycle lane, and could a more harmonious colour than blue be used for the lane. Ultimately, can the movement of goods and people be so improved that Harleyford Road can become a quiet, pleasant, safe and spacious boulevard through which thousands of people move?

Inconsiderate road users, regardless of their transport mode, need to be encouraged to behave differently. Design plays a huge part in this, but so does education.  I hope that local primary schools St Anne’s and Wyvil will be offering cycle training, which addresses this, to their pupils this year in preparation for the gradual introduction of their new routes to school.

Access to Driveways – There are a handful of permitted driveways and residents are concerned about accessing or leaving them given a segregated cycle lane to cross. TfL said that access would be maintained.

Some residents felt it was most unlikely that there would be a gap in the flow of people riding bicycles sufficient to allow them to turn into or out of their drive and asked for proof in the form of an existing example. TfL cited Cable Street which has had such a cycle lane for over a decade.

Putting out Rubbish – I don’t know where residents are currently required to put their bins out for collection. I presume on the pavement. The pavement will remain in place, albeit with fewer people riding bikes on it. Anyway, it’s a concern that TfL and Lambeth will need to ensure is checked out.

Air Pollution – It was argued that providing dedicated space for people to ride bikes may increase air pollution because where there were three lanes of motor traffic there will now be only two. TfL said that traffic light phasing would be used to manage this. No benefits of more people cycling rather than driving or being driven and the knock on reduction in air pollution were raised.

Banned right turn from Harleyford Road to Kennington Lane – a small number of drivers currently make this right turn. To facilitate the efficient, direct and safe passage of the existing and forecast number of people riding bicycles, TfL propose that the few motorists make this small part of their journey around the existing gyratory. I think that it was to do with this point that a resident suggested it would be a better idea here to maintain the right turn for the few and a good idea if the thousands of people riding bikes dismounted and walked their bikes across the road.

My Conclusion

Residents last night didn’t cite any potential benefits such as cleaner air; the motor traffic being further away from their front door reducing noise and serious collision danger; a fitter population reducing their NHS liability; or enhanced mobility options for adults and children in the houses thanks to a child-usable cycle lane outside the front door. It seemed unlikely that any of the owners expect a cycle lane replacing a lane of motor traffic will increase the value of the houses.

Change can be threatening and it is easy to anticipate real or imaginary problems and focus on these. 

This is not to say that the matters that residents raised were trivial and of no matter. Some are real concerns and, especially at this early stage of London ‘going Dutch’, they need to be heard and responded to. A particular concern of mine is that cycle lanes do not become loading bays like the one outside Tesco on the gyratory, and so sensible loading/unloading provision needs to be designed in from the outset. 

Change is achieved incrementally – a cycling superhighway here is likely to be a step towards a much better future both for residents and for those who pass through. I am gratified that the residents are questioning the process and that Transport for London at a senior level are engaging with them.

I look forward to seeing pensioners and primary school children riding through Vauxhall alongside the ladies and gentlemen who commute to work.

CS5 Vauxhall to Victoria planned Route

From latest Mayor's Question Time:

Cycle route Victoria to Vauxhall

Question No: 2013/4071 Darren Johnson
Why are you proposing to divert CS5 onto Belgrave Road because the direct route would involve cycle
lanes which "remove some general traffic space on Vauxhall Bridge Road"?
Your cycling adviser says Belgrave Road has advantages because it is "fairly quiet, we wouldn't need to make any changes to the road, apart from intermittent markings." Rather than implement another second rate cycling safety scheme that will have to be fixed at a later date, why don't you do it right first time?

Written response from the Mayor 

The Vauxhall Bridge Road proposal was for cycle lanes which would not meet the standards laid down in my Vision for Cycling in this location. Given the volume of traffic on this road, and the number of buses using it, it would be impossible to do anything better. Therefore we have moved the Cycle Superhighway to Belgrave Road, which sees a much smaller proportion of motor traffic and, crucially, a fifth of the volume of HGVs. The new route avoids the need for northbound cyclists to filter into the middle of heavy, fast-moving traffic at Bessborough Gardens and avoids conflict with left turning traffic into Richmond Gate. It also allows cyclists to cross the Victoria area without having to negotiate the deeply unpleasant gyratory at Victoria station, a place made even more hazardous by building works. It provides a contraflow segregated track through to the north of the area and will connect with other Quietway routes. I am very surprised that you should describe it as a second-rate scheme

Act now! Tell TfL half-hearted change isn't enough

Transport for London is consulting on the first of 100 dangerous junctions they are to redesign, with construction work scheduled to start in just four weeks time. It's the roundabout on the Westminster side of Lambeth Bridge and TfL's design just isn't anyway near good enough, so there's no time to lose. As soon as you've read this post please, please send an email to STengagement@tfl.gov.uk.

Rather than introduce a serious Dutch style street design, like the one above that allows cyclists to glide along in their own lane, TfL plan to give cyclists two options: either mix in with the lorries and taxis as now, or weave in conflict with pedestrians on the pavement and zebra crossings :

Cycle Superhighway 8 along Millbank will still just fizzle out as you approach the roundabout. And the cycle lane over the bridge from Lambeth will also fizzle out just as it does now at the start of the zig-zags to the zebra crossing, but with the option to cycle onto the pavement if you wish to irritate the pedestrians.

TfL's design allows three options should, for example, you wish to go straight on from Lambeth Bridge.

1) Stay where the cycle lane was, but has gone because of the zig-zag starting, and go straight ahead hugging the left hand side of the roundabout. Expect to get left-hooked by a driver turning left.

2) In accordance with cycle training advice, move from the cycle lane to take the centre of the nearside lane. Expect a driver to run into the back of you as they've forgotten you're there (as happened to me). Also expect to be shouted at for not being on the pavement.

3) Cycle onto the pavement and cross on the zebra crossing with the pedestrians (it's not clear from TfL's drawing if you're meant to dismount), then cycle along the pavement and join Horseferry Road at some unspecified and seemingly unprotected place. Expect conflict with pedestrians and a tricky merger back into the main traffic lane.

I agree with London Cycling Campaign's view that, if the roundabout is to remain, this is a perfect location for a Go Dutch roundabout like the photo at the top, which I copied from the LCC blogpost. I can see teenagers, tourists and commuters happily and safely using the cycle lane as it is segregated from drivers, doesn't have pedestrian conflict, and is no slower than using the general traffic lane..

There can be no better place to start top quality cycling infrastructure than adjacent to the Houses of Parliament, where any MP not sensible enough to have cycled in the Netherlands yet can see for themselves what the future should be. Let's also remember that this roundabout forms part of this year's Diamond Jubilee Walking and Cycling Greenway - even more reason why it should be inspirationally good rather than badly compromised.

Now please email STengagement@tfl.gov.uk, with the heading Lambeth Bridge Northern Roundabout Consultation and tell them you don't like their plans but, if the roundabout is to remain, want a proper Dutch style design along the lines that London Cycling Campaign proposes.

If we accept a feeble, watered-down pastiche of 'Going Dutch' at this point, the next 99 dangerous junctions will be dealt with by TfL just as feebly. So please write!.

Also, check out the results of my snapshot survey, showing a very low occupancy level of the bulky motor traffic on Lambeth Bridge

Yay! The railings on Kennington Lane are going

A few weeks ago I took some photos outside Tesco on Kennington Lane of the junction with their car park in preparation for a blog post urging changes..

Pedestrians can't simply walk across the side road that just leads to the relatively modest, for a supermarket, car park.They but must instead zigzag around, push buttons and wait for a green man twice. It's preposterously over-engineered with a complicated traffic light and pedestrian light sequence, probably due to having two lanes of traffic going out, to smooth the motor traffic flow, where one would be reasonable.

While I doubt that a lane is being removed, the great news is that TfL are removing the railings later this month

A llot of people use the railings as a bike parking location, so the existing bike racks are likely to become much fuller shortly. I suspect additional ones will be needed and hope Tesco have this in hand..

.

Aargh! Where's the cycle lane gone?

Or 'Why I fear that Going Dutch could screw up in London', Take my word for it, it'll screw up if our highway engineers slavishly follow  the D(a)fT standards.

Westminster Council have just resurfaced the roundabout on Sutherland Road in Maida Vale, with the cycle lane just as it was before, and today a taxi-driver, turning left, and myself, going straight on, shared one of those London 'who goes first?' frisson of fear moments.


For amusement I'd taken the cycle lane that skirts the edge of the roundabout, and comes off, as shown, in the direction I was travelling:

The cycle lane then appears to come to an abrupt stop at the T-junction, where the taxi was adjacent to me and wanting to turn left. I'm wondering if he expects me to give way to him now now I've (seemingly) run out of lane and from the look on his face and the movement of this vehicle I can see he's thinking the same;

The thing is, I know that the cycle lane markings have disappeared because the powers that be stupidly say you don't have them where there are Zig-Zag markings for a Zebra, and I know they reappear after it (not that you can see it at this point).

However, this is clearly a subtle distinction of the type that the average road user will, quite understandably, have no idea about - it just looks like the bike lane's ended and the traffic's merging..

So I give a Paddington hard stare at the driver and pedal forwards in an assertive fashion, while subtly slowing in case the driver decides to turn and I need to stop.

Tomorrow I could take my primary school cycle trainees to this spot and see if they can grasp the nuances of using this cycling lane, but I don't think I will.

If you don't want to go to Maida Vale to experience this confusion, simply cycle over Lambeth Bridge towards Millbank Roundabout and ask yourself whether the cycle lane continues invisibly to the left-hook position on the roundabout or stops at the end of the white line where the zig-zags begin - I'll bet even TfL can't tell you what they intend here or why.

Aaargh.

Do we want Formula One outside Kennington Park?

TfL are undertaking a safety review of junctions on their roads. I'm still not clear whether their definition of safety is 'if you dare to use it you might get away with it', as shown at the Oval above (video regrettably now taken down by the film maker, but it showed the conflict that results from fast moving vehicles, with drivers encouraged to zoom by the motorway style layout, and poor cycle facilities), or 'we want it to be so safe that parents will let their teenage daughters cycle there, and their teenage daughters will want to'.

The latter is achievable, as the Dutch have shown, but it will take quite a lot of work given the poor subjective safety of most of TfL's junctions and I seriously doubt that our current Mayor and TfL are up to the job.

The Oval area is one of those under review. A revised layout should include getting rid of the go-faster railings in the middle of Kennington Park Road; making it easy to cross from the parade of shops to the park, and

 slower traffic speeds, with, crucially, less of a race-track/motorway sliproad layout - achieved either by reducing the number of lanes or by giving wide, desirable and dedicated lanes to buses and cyclists.

I fear TfL's commitment will be on encouraging general motor traffic flow at the expense of creating a better place well suited to people travelling about in a healthy and sustainable manner.

Please take a moment to sign LCC's 'Love London, Go Dutch' petition if you haven't already and turn up to the Big Ride on April 28th. And finally, vote for the Mayoral candidate who will deliver most for cyclists in the coming term.

Mixed messages around the Elephant & Castle

Late last year the eastern Cycle By-Pass to avoid the dangerous Elephant & Castle roundabout was relocated to permit work to start on redeveloping the Heygate Estate. I'm pleased to report that, just a little over two months later, work has started to alter the signage so it no longer directs you to cross the noisy, polluted New Kent Road (above, as imagined by LendLease to look in the distant future) where you now can't.

The pavement that leads to the newly installed Pelican pedestrian-only crossing has been marked as shared space allowing cyclists to ride right up to the Pelican Crossing where they have to dismount and walk across the New Kent Road before remounting to ride on the shared pavement the other side.

Why then did TfL not install a Toucan crossing instead allowing cyclists to ride across the New Kent Road on this Cycle By-Pass to avoid the dangerous Elephant & Castle roundabout? 


The reason is that TfL's modelling demonstrates that getting off and walking smooths a cyclist's journey on this Cycle By-Pass to avoid the dangerous Elephant & Castle roundabout whereas riding across would significantly delay the cyclist's flow. I quote from an email TfL sent out:

"Transport for London (TfL) undertook a modelling assessment on the crossing and found that unfortunately, a Toucan could not be provided here as it would result in significant delays to the traffic flow. The design drawing which indicated that this crossing would be a Toucan was provided by the developer of 50 New Kent Road at the initial design stage."

What TfL fail to explain is why, if they deemed a Toucan crossing was not feasible on a Cycle By-Pass to avoid the dangerous Elephant & Castle roundabout, their consultation included one. Maybe they thought they'd get strong objections if they showed a Pelican crossing on a major cycle route and hoped that if they showed a Toucan on the plans no-one would notice when the Pelican was slipped in instead?

Cyclists will however be reassured to know that this crossing relocation is only temporary. The Pelican will  be there for a mere FOUR F***ING YEARS to enable the new development at 50 New Kent Road to be constructed, part of the huge Heygate Estate area redevelopment. 

LendLease, the developers of the Heygate, had an exhibition of their plans last week. They were adamant that they did not want a Cycling Superhighway running through their site so it look as though the pressure is on TfL to make the E&C roundabout totally sweet for cyclists to use. I'd suggest they have a look at my doodle here.

While LendLease don't want a Cycling Superhighway their plans show a reassuring intent to enable cyclists to ride around their patch and to restrain motor vehicle use. Below is a plan showing proposed cycle routes in red (sadly not yet showing one through the railway arch to the west and the new swimming pool) and some impressions of how the spaces might look.

In the last throws of the current Mayoralty, there's a chance to raise concerns with the Deputy Mayor of London this Thursday 8th March at 18:30 at Crossway Church on New Kent Road (adjacent to the junction with Rodney Place).

 

Whilst organised by the Spanish/Portuguese speakers alliance, they would like to invite and encourage everybody with an interest in the area to attend and to quiz Richard Barnes on any aspect of Mayoral policy that affects the Elephant - from housing to transport to S106 funds and beyond!

Will TfL's junction review be feeble or robust?

Transport for London have started a cycle safety review of some 200 junctions. The first batch they've started work on include several in our backyard and there's a commitment to implementing change as a result of the review so it's really important to get involved.

Once a preferred option is agreed we'll start design and construction work, subject to our consultation and approval processes.

The immediately local junctions are:
Lambeth Bridge (northern roundabout)
Albert Embankment (Lambeth Bridge/Lambeth Road), aka Lambeth Bridge (southern roundabout)
Waterloo (inc. IMAX roundabout – York Road / Stamford Road / Waterloo Road / Waterloo Bridge)
Oval triangle
St George’s Circus (Blackfriars Road / London Road / Borough Road)

My biggest fear about the review is that TfL will concentrate on making the junctions safer for those who cycle, rather than making the junctions desirable for those who aren't currently cycling but would like to.

Putting aside actual casualty statistics for a moment, the reality is that all of these junctions feel bloody horrible to use as a cyclist. Parents are hardly likely to encourage their teenage children to cycle across Lambeth or Waterloo Bridges as things stand, and the children are hardly likely to feel inspired to cycle there in the first place.


For a review and subsequent works to have any validity, the minimum outcome must be that teenage cyclists are routinely using these junctions and bridges, and that their parents feel it's safe for them to do so.

TfL also need to be mindful that while being hit by a truck is one way of lessening life quality and/or length, another way is being obese and unfit. If our population are too scared of the road network to choose active means of travel then TfL's junction review will have been inadequate.

With the current mega development and high-rise residential growth of Vauxhall, Nine Elms, Battersea as one specified area, Waterloo as a second, and the Elephant & Castle as a third, it must be made clear to our politicians that it is time to fundamentally change the way our road network operates in this patch of central London in favour of the pedestrian and cyclist and against the hegemony of the motorist.

All change for the E & C northern roundabout

The SE1 Community Website today suggests Boris may fork out £200m towards the remodelling of the Elephant & Castle tube station and the northern roundabout.

Let's see if we can turn the roundabout into a crossroads instead and create a wonderful public space.

The opportunity must be seized to achieve really significant change at the Elephant & Castle and St George's Road, Westminster Bridge Road and even Westminster Bridge - changes that will improve life for the residents, tourists and workers by favouring walking, cycling and public transport over the private car.

Unhappily TfL's current design, below, is still for a huge five-lane roundabout, though with surface crossings rather than underpasses for pedestrians and St George's Road remains a one-way multi-lane motorstrosity.

If TfL's plan, based on the existing or higher volumes of motor traffic, goes ahead E&C and central London will remain as choked up with motor traffic and unpleasant to walk and cycle as it is now. It's time to find ways to restrict the traffic and the multi-lane gyratories that foul up our area.

Here's a quick sketch of one idea (avoiding spending £15m+ to move the Faraday Memorial and electricity substation marked in blue) - maybe you've got a better one. Let's get them being discussed and researched. There has to be a better solution that the one TfL currently propose.

I envisage St George's Road made two-way and only used by buses and cycles. General traffic uses London Road to approach Waterloo and Blackfriars Bridges. At Elephant & Castle there's a simple crossroads as shown, with a t-junction from St George's Road. Pedestrians get more space and easier crossings.

A bonus of removing private motor traffic from St George's Road is that it facilitates doing the same on Westminster Bridge. In turn Parliament Square can cease being an inhumane traffic island and become a place deserving its World Heritage Status..

Big, bold ideas. Maybe my crossroads flight of fancy, on examination, won't turn out to be the right one, but the underlying principle of stopping central London being dominated by the motor vehicle is absolutely what is needed. We mustn't end up with just a multi-million pound minor tweak of the existing dismal arrangement.

Are TfL too slapdash to achieve a professional result?

On 13th December I blogged about TfL moving the Pelican crossing for the eastern Cycle Bypass at Elephant and Castle along the New Kent Road. I wondered why they didn't take the opportunity to replace the old Pelican crossing with a Toucan crossing permitting cyclists to use the Bypass without having to dismount.

The truth, I subsequently thought, was that they made a concious decision not to support cyclists in favour of supporting the motorist.

But now I think the true reason is that TfL are just too slapdash to put in the care and effort needed for a professional result for vulnerable road users. Why else would they move the crossing point from the right side of the junction to the left but not move the related signs? It's now six weeks since TfL moved the crossing and the original signage remains untouched.

TfL's equivalent to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic

  

For once I almost welcome this sign. Over the coming week Transport for London are removing the railings that limit the options for pedestrians to cross the five-lane one-way motorstrosity that St George's Road has become.

Unfortunately TfL are using their time and energy on piddling interventions rather than on measures that will make a real difference. This road,  with three schools on one side and a park on the other, should swiftly be made two-way and cycle-friendly.

As well as having no plans to make St George's Road two-way in the imminent future, TfL don't plan to make the one-way motorway bit of Westminster Bridge Road two-way and a mellow place to be and cycle.

I hope that the Catholic church are pulling its flock together to fight TfL's oppression of this area. After all St George's RC Cathedral,  Catholic primary and secondary schools, and the offices of Catholic charity CAFOD are all hemmed in by these truly nasty roads.

Come on TfL, put your energies into real, not superficial, change.

Do you know an employer that needs cycle parking?

Transport for London offer free cycle stands for employers with a minimum 5 employees on site. 

There are three designs to choose from - Sheffield stands, toast racks and vertical parking.

Companies can request up to 20 stands, and it's quick and easy to get them. Details here . Companies need to sign up to the Cycle to Work Guarantee, which is also quick and easy and doesn't commit the company to taking further action (though let's hope they will).

The Vauxhall factory moved; now can the Gyratory?

My grotty photo is of an interesting plan produced by Lambeth Council working with TfL by Farrells, SKM Buchanons and Lambert Smith Hampton. It's part of a document being discussed by Lambeth's Cabinet on Jan 16th. (For a clearer image you'll have to download this PDF .) Here's the text from the page that, despite not mentioning cycling, seems promising - now is the time to push for real change:

"Aiming to unlock the potential of Vauxhall, it offers a vision of how Vauxhall Cross could  change to deliver a sustainable community to reflect the vision agreed by the strategy board. The plan draws upon some of the history of the area when there was an identifiable High Street and looks forward to create a major transport interchange, a gateway to the city and a modern, vibrant and sustainable district centre. It intends to offer a centre to complement both Lambeth and London, and to be achievable within the framework of the OAPF and Lambeth Core Strategy.

The plan outlines a coherent and legible centre, easily negotiable for residents and visitors, with the historic barriers of the gyratory and the railway lines over come.Communities previously isolated to the east and north east, are re-connected to the river, the areas greatest natural resource- itself enhanced through the Thames walkway.

The numerous green spaces enjoyed by the area are now similarly now connected and linked to the proposed Linear Park, facilitating safe pedestrian movements. Pedestrian movement is further facilitated within the plan as road junctions and crossings are simplified from over 30 to 20 and transport barriers are reduced.

Central to the plan is the restoration of a high street at the centre of Vauxhall, to provide a heart and focus, along the Bondway, the strip currently occupied by the bus station.

Rather than a pedestrianised area, this is intended to be enlivened by allowing buses to pass through, and both sides will enjoy active retail frontage, thus providing valuable employment space and contributing further to Vauxhalls economic vitality. A Civic Town Square is proposed next to the existing station as a potential venue for community and cultural events. It is intended that this is an area of mixed use, both within the streets and the buildings themselves.

The plan allows for the development of tall buildings as described in the emerging OAPF, but describes how streets can be created so that those buildings have a context.

Transport, and the management of Vauxhall as an interchange remains essential and the proposal, is to remove the bus station and replace it with a series of bus stops, facilitating the bus routes and journeys. The plan anticipates the return of two way working, in place of the current gyratory, which exacerbates traffic and its attendant problems, but does not rely upon it."

TfL's seasonal funding announcement for 2012/13

Transport for London’s Press Office for south London appears to have had an excellent seasonal lunch on December 15th prior to issuing an individual press release for each borough revealing TfL’s financial Christmas present and what the borough will spend it on during 2012/13.

While the press releases for north London boroughs highlighted their individual successes in the last year, the south London boroughs of Southwark, Lambeth, Merton and Lewisham were all left to bask in the achievements of Bromley.

It’s vaguely interesting to discover that Bromley installed 118 new on-street cycle parking spaces but I’d rather know what my local boroughs achieved.

Let’s hope TfL can issue corrected press releases once the New Year hangover has subsided.

In the meantime here's what we can expect in 2012/13 from Lambeth and the neighbouring boroughs of Southwark, Wandsworth and Westminster: Overall, TfL report that funding to the boroughs to deliver improvements is to remain stable to 2013/14 at £147m per annum, rather than be reduced each year as they previously forecast..

LAMBETH
The £5m funding package in 2012/13 will finance a range of transport projects in Lambeth, including:

£1.16m to help pilot Lambeth's new 'cooperative approach' to designing transport and environment schemes and carry out improvements to pedestrian and cycle facilities in Oval, Stockwell, Vassall, Coldharbour, Ferndale, Larkhall and Clapham Town areas of the borough. As part of its plans to become the country's first cooperative council, Lambeth Council is developing a new 'community led' approach to designing transport improvements, working much more closely with residents through its 'Neighbourhood Enhancement Programme'. The LIP funding will help get this off the ground in the pilot wards of Oval, Vassall, Coldharbour, Ferndale, Larkhall and Clapham Town
£550,000 to encourage more cycling in the borough, including cycle parking (both on street and residential), greenways for off-street cycling and route and junction improvements to facilitate safe cycling
£110,000 for phase one of a two year project to make crossings and residential streets safe around Loughborough Junction


SOUTHWARK
The £4m funding package in 2012/13 will finance a range of transport projects in Southwark, including:

£400,000 to improve walking routes on Forest Hill Road, connecting communities and providing a link to local shops and schools
£342,000 for widespread improvements in East Walworth supporting 'Pocket Parks'. These will include improved walking and cycling routes between green spaces to encourage more walking and cycling trips
£150,000 for improved walking and cycling facilities in Camberwell to get more people walking and cycling for shorter journeys. Funds will also facilitate environmental improvements to link green spaces and the town centre


WANDSWORTH
The £4.7m funding package in 2012/13 will finance a range of transport projects in Wandsworth, including:

£1.4m towards an on-going scheme to improve Clapham Junction town centre and tackle traffic congestion. Works include improving the road layout, renewing pavements and road surfaces, decluttering footways, planting new trees and upgrading lighting, wayfinding and street furniture
£280,000 for public realm improvements and to create new pedestrian areas
£210,000 to promote cycling through improved cycle parking, cycle training courses, completing cycle route links and a programme of promotional events
£350,000 to improve the look and feel of streets around local shops and provide better pedestrian access to shopping parades.


WESTMINSTER
The £5.9m funding package in 2012/13 will finance a range of transport projects in Westminster, including:

£500,000 to extend the Legible London pedestrian signage in the City of Westminster
£1.173m to implement public realm improvements to the West End. This includes improvements for the vital pedestrian link from Leicester Square to Covent Garden
£1,000,000 to deliver Westminster's programme of urban realm improvements, including the implementation of the first phase of the important project at Queensway/Westbourne Grove

TfL's latest ruse - making cyclists walk to smooth traffic flow at E&C?

I was wrong in my blog the other day that TfL had omitted to take advantage of works to install a Toucan crossing to complete the eastern Cycle Bypass that avoids the horrible E&C roundabout.

It isn't that the thought didn't occur to them. Much worse than that.

TfL actively decided not to install a Toucan crossing on this contorted but crucial Cycle Bypass. Here's the plan that was drawn up for the works that have recently taken place on the New Kent Road, and, as you can see top right, they proposed a Toucan Crossing

 That's pretty clear:

After all, what could be more sane and rational than to permit cyclists to cycle on a cycle bypass?

I don't know why TfL decided to stick with a Pelican crossing and make cyclists dismount, but I'm going to hazard a guess.

Pelican crossings have a flashing amber light period of time when traffic can go if people have stopped crossing. Toucan crossings are like normal traffic lights so road users have to wait until the green light to check it's clear then proceed.

So, if your imperative is to have traffic whooshing smoothly to a deadly major roundabout you could well choose to opt for a Pelican crossing.

If your imperative is to nurture and facilitate travel which decreases congestion, increases fitness, reduces CO2 emissions and pollution, and saves lives then you'd opt for a Toucan.

TfL have elected to support the motorist. It's time for change at TfL from the top down.

Carnage on Cycling Supercrapway 7 tonight

I came as close to a collision as I have in a very long time tonight. A pedestrian ran into the centre of the road from behind some parked cars. She wasn't looking as she was running across the road. If she had looked before leaving the pavement she wouldn't have seen me as I couldn't see her because of the legally parked cars in the cycling superhighway blocking our view of each other. Thanks to my training I was well in the middle of the general traffic lane and had time to bellow nonsensically while doing an emergency stop.

If this was a proper cycling superhighway the problem wouldn't have occurred because the bloody cars wouldn't have been there.

On the cycle Bypass at E&C a motorist and a pedestrian crossing had collided. The car, which was on the pavement when I first saw it had been taken away but the damage remained. The crossing had been taped off to pedestrians and the lights were stuck on green for the motor traffic, meaning that pedestrians and cyclists on the superhighway had to gamble their way across the multiple traffic lanes. Why didn't the authorities put the motor traffic lane on red and force the motorists to decide when the way was clear? (By the way the light at the bottom of the traffic light in the picture above isn't a green light, it's TfL's sign, for cheapskate reasons, prohibiting cyclists from a desirable right turn into the bus and cycle lane).

Further up the road just before Southwark Bridge, under the railway bridge, roadworks are going on. Where are the signs telling the bloody motorists to get out of your car and push it, like the cyclists are asked to do for some lack of reason.

Finally, in the City of London, the cyclist push-and-wait traffic lights at the junction of Queen Street and Queen Victoria Street weren't working as has been the case for a good three weeks now. Clearly no-one in the City's highways department cycles over Southwark Bridge in a month of Sundays.

This kind of shit provision and consideration for cyclists and pedestrians is another reason why I'll be at the Vigil outside Kings Cross at 6pm this Tuesday.

If anyone from TfL or the City of London reads this, as well as everyone else, please go and see the wonderful film 'Urbanized' at the Barbican to the 23rd December, to see what changes are needed and why London's cycling and walking provision needs major improvement, not tinkering while smoothing the car carnage.

Should cyclists cycle up this cycle lane?

Vulnerable road users are being seriously injured or killed as a consequence of large lorries, designed in such a way that drivers can't see other traffic, being driven in our city . As a consequence TfL are encouraging cyclists "Never cycle up the left side of a lorry stopped at a junction.". 


You envisage that TfL mean don't squeeze up the inside of a lorry in the kind of narrow situation below (at the junction coming off Lambeth Bridge into Lambeth - though why on earth TfL recently painted the cycle logos where they did is quite beyond me), 

 But do TfL really intend that a cyclist shouldn't continue in a clearly provided mandatory cycle lane they've installed such as the one in this video? 

If vehicles or lanes are so poorly designed that a driver just can't see whether a neighbouring lane is clear or not then there's clearly a huge problem and I don't believe it should be the responsibility of the cyclist to resolve it. I know the cyclist is the one who will lose in a collision, but I believe that we should have a society where children, adults with learning difficulties and executives in city banks should be able to cycle around without having to second-guess whether a lane provided for their use is usable. 

Conditions for cycling and walking in London have got to improve. That's why I'll be at the vigil taking place this Tuesday 20th December from 6pm at Kings Cross. Please come along too.

TfL Smothering the Traffic Flow

The eastern cycle bypass to avoid the horrors of the E&C roundabout(s) has always been a bit of a horror itself. A particularly irritating aspect used to be the Pelican (pedestrian only) crossing of the New Kent Road, demanding 'Cyclist Dismount' from the segregated cycle lane, push your bike over the road, and remount on the shared pedestrian/cyclist pavement the other side. As you can see the Pelican crossing has finally gone due to regeneration works:

to be replaced a few metres along with, you guessed it, not a Toucan (two can cross - cyclist and pedestrian), but another Pelican crossing..

So, there you have it: a clear example that TfL are not all about Smoothing the Traffic Flow. At least, not if you're a cyclist.

In practice, unsurprisingly, 99% of cyclists don't dismount, being able to see TfL nonsense for what it is.

Why would a cycle-friendly Mayor allow such a straightforward opportunity for improvement to be missed by TfL?

Imperial War Museum to Westfield Stratford - a safe, fun ride?

All things going to plan, next Wednesday's Pedal Power Kennington ride will see our teenagers riding after school to see the Olympic Park. I suspect the best view will be from the Observation Deck behind the John Lewis store at Westfield Stratford City, the gateway to the Olympics.

Conveniently cycle specific route planners are provided by Westfield Stratford City and by Transport for London. Our starting postcode is SE1 6HZ, the Imperial War Museum.

From the TfL site I chose the Easy option: Mainly quiet backstreets, canals and park routes. The speed is 12km/hr. Here's an extract of the route:

Turn Left Into Whitechapel High Street
Straight Up Whitechapel Road
Straight Up Mile End Road
Straight Up Bow Road
Straight Up Bow Interchange
Straight Up
Turn Left Into
Turn Right Into
Straight Up
Straight Up High Street
Straight Up High Street Cycle path
Straight Up High Street
Straight Up High Street
Turn Left Into Great Eastern Road
Turn Left Into walk your bicycle (230m)
Straight Up walk your bicycle (150m)

And here is part of Westfield's recommended cycle route:
14. Slight right onto Whitechapel Rd/A11
Continue to follow A11
15. Slight left onto Mile End Rd/A11
16. Slight left to stay on Mile End Rd/A11
Continue to follow A11
17. Slight left onto Bow Rd/A11
18. Slight left to stay on Bow Rd/A11
19. Slight right to stay on Bow Rd/A11
Continue to follow A11
20. Turn left onto Warton Rd
Destination will be on the left

Cycle friendly shopping centre? Cycle friendly Olympics? That's what we've been promised. We'll find out next Wednesday when we follow the recommended routes. Gulp.